If you’re new to different types of leather, then you should know that there are mainly two main types of leather surfaces:
- Top Grain Leather
- Full Grain Leather
Full-grain and top-grain leathers are defined by the outer surface grain that is present on the cowhide. When tanned, this outer covering offers a durable, soft and beautiful surface. Tanning can be described as an artificial process that eliminates various natural characteristics of the leather’s surface, making it fit for manufacturing usage.
Top grain leather consists of both tanned and untanned variants of leather. And those which are untanned are specifically termed as full-grain leather. So, without further ado, let’s get down into the real differences between them.
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The Natural Features Of Full Grain Leather
Professional leather sofas cleaning services state that full-grain leather generally consists of range marks along with a tonne of differences in skin quality. Range marks tend to occur on the cow skin, which can include scars. Scars can happen due to cuts from sharp objects or even due to insect bites.
Some of the other natural features of full grain leather include the inconsistency inside the cowhide, such as loose fatty skin present around the neck & belly, tightly wrapped skin around the legs & back of the cow body and so on.
As a result, because of the above-mentioned differences, the grain consistency across the cowhide tends to differ. Full-grain leather will always retain the natural qualities of cowhide.
The Natural Features Of Top Grain Leather
When a leather’s natural characteristics have been corrected or altered, so that the leather can maintain its durability, softness and gorgeousness, it’s specifically known as top grain leather. When the tanning process of leather takes place, the cowhide’s outer skin portion is sanded or lightly buffed, so that the leather loses its natural features, which include skin marks and variations.
When it comes to leather manufacturing, different manufacturers have different processes. However, if you are a fashion house or brand that is looking to buy leather from a manufacturing company, you should be certain about the process that they engage with and carry out. The slightest imperfections can completely change the grain of the leather. It has to be done in a perfect way without any complications or mistakes. Any imperfections simply end up devaluing the quality of the leather and hide.
How Are Full Grain & Top Grain Leather Coloured?
It should be realised that colour is applied to leather generally during the tanning process and is done in three different methods. The three methods are as follows:
- Apply pigment to the leather’s surface.
- Apply pigment by soaking the leather into the colour dye.
- Apply pigment by combining both the above-mentioned methods.
You must know that each process will serve a singular purpose and will provide you with the desired results. Therefore, there’s no such ideal process in this scenario.
We hope you loved our simple & effective guide on knowing the differences between full grain and top grain leather. And in case you have any further questions to ask, in regards to the subject of leather, let us know.
